It is all about emissions. Leaner mixtures have less of it. There was a voluntary commitment for the manufactures to meet 2012 European standards. I think BMW just volunteered us. We are not the biggest importer of BMW bikes, so got sucked into the vortex.

BMW did the same thing with mandated ABS. I am not sure Europe has agreed on the implementation schedule yet, but BMW put them on all bikes starting in 2012.

The reflash did improve rideability.

On the subject of not knowing what the reflash did, my dealer consistently told me they have no idea what updated software is meant to cure. Got the same response regarding fear of losing my miles to empty function. Their story is, they load the software into their fault reader/computer thingy and hook the bike up. I am out of warranty, the bike runs fine and could tell them to not to do it, but am afraid of loosing something good.

So on your Land Rover what would happen if you punched the throttle open the same amount caused by a bump kick? Does it feed the power gradually? Is it an abrupt delay?

I've got the booster plug on mine and that's helpend immensly, but I'm still looking for a little less twitch, especially at crawling speeds off road. I'm hoping one of those G2 throttle cams will fix this.

My Aprilia has elctronically controlled throttle, which I suspect will become standard on most bikes in the future.

It has three modes: "Sport" is twitchy, and hits full throttle with about 1/4 turn of the wrist. "Tour" is just right for me, requiring about 1/2 turn to reach max throttle. "Rain" not only increases the amount of time it takes for the throttle to follow the movements of your wrist, but also limits max horsepower. I use this mode off road, to control wheel spin with my primarily street oriented tire. If you give it full throttle abruptly, you can feel the throttle bodies delay until they catch up.

One last point: there is no doubt that BMW can do something about the twitchy throttle. I have a 2009 F800GS and the throttle was unbelievably twitchy when I first got it. At the 10,000km service BMW flashed the ECU and things improved--still twitchy but noticeably better. There are posts on this forum about it somewhere.

you really did notice a difference?

I did not.. at all. They told me that the new map should be a bit calmer.. I protested, but luckily... felt no difference

On the subject of not knowing what the reflash did, my dealer consistently told me they have no idea what updated software is meant to cure. Got the same response regarding fear of losing my miles to empty function. Their story is, they load the software into their fault reader/computer thingy and hook the bike up. I am out of warranty, the bike runs fine and could tell them to not to do it, but am afraid of loosing something good.

I heard another story.. the new flash (at least that back in 2010 or so) solved SUDDEN AND UNWANTED ENGINE STOPS WHILE RUNNING.

I have this issues only when I'm arranging a BMW key pouch on highway :)

My Land Rover Defender (2010 2.4L turbo diesel Ford engine (Puma)) features a fly-by-wire electronic accelerator peddle. When you switch the transfer case over to low range, the electronics that govern the accelerator are designed to make the accelerator much LESS responsive, especially to short sharp accelerator movements. That way, when you go over a big bump (as happens when driving in terrain demanding low range) and your foot moves up or down, the vehicle does not surge. The Mitsubishi Pajero I owned before the Defender did this too. You can see where I am going with this...

The F800GS has a fly-by-wire throttle. What is to stop BMW (or some after-market electronic engineer) giving me a switch on my handle-bar that I can flick to make my throttle less responsive? I've seen a few suggested solutions to the twitchy throttle over the years, but I have never seen this suggested (which might be a reflection on me more than anything).

I'm with you mate. I hate the throttle, you go over a rock and power on whether you wanted to or not so for me it makes riding slow, a pain in the arse.
I'm fitting one of those remapping things from USA ASAP.
By the way I also have a 09 Defender 110 ute here in Australia.